This blog's purpose is to document the local excesses from the housing bubble era.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

We're Number #1

In the list of most unaffordable areas to live. This info was found in a Boston.com has an article on the Cheapest Places to Buy. The New York - White Plains - Wayne N.J. area was dead last, listed as the least affordable area to live. The process was determined by dividing the regional median house prices by the regional median income. Lets take a look at the article -

According to the National Association of Home Builders, Indianapolis is currently the most affordable major US housing market. During the second quarter, 91.6% of the homes sold in that city were affordable to families that earn the area�s median income of $65,100.

The least affordable major market was the New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.J., area, where 11.4% of the homes sold were affordable to families earning the area�s median income of $63,000, according to the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index released this week.

But note that if Manhattan is included in the region it really throws off everything. Also for some reason many of these analyses leave out Bergen County. Leaving out Bergen may not affect calculations that include Manhattan that much, but they really affect Jersey inclusive stats.